


Learning To Breathe

by Whirlwind



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Handon, Love/Hate, Triad Industries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 02:18:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19781218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whirlwind/pseuds/Whirlwind
Summary: AU. Set in a universe where Seylah never gave up Landon for adoption, her attempts to evade her former employers aren't successful, and the unique boy winds up in the hands of the shady organization known as Triad.





	Learning To Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Gonna start off by saying this fic is definitely staying a one-shot. Because even though I love the premise, I've got no future plans for it. Also for the sake of this story, Malivore never sent Clarke back to find Landon, otherwise this doesn't really work.

Hope stares down at the unconscious young man sprawled out on the bed inside the werewolf transition space with a burning hatred in her eyes, seething with betrayal. They had trusted him. **_She_ **had trusted him. But it was all a lie. They had taken him in, offered him a place to belong and to understand his powers, but it was all just a ruse on his part. A trick to get him in the door and learn this place’s secrets. She didn't care that he had warned them of the attack on the school, which helped prevent any casualties, Landon Kirby was still nothing but a liar.

There was a way to get answers though, but it meant using black magic. Similar to her ability to show her own memories to someone, this version let her glimpse into the memories of others and even feel the emotions that came along with them. She usually preferred to get permission before delving into someone's mindscape, but he didn't deserve the courtesy after what he'd done.

"Let's see what else you're hiding."

Hope places her hands on both sides of his face and closed her eyes, before reciting the incantation. His memories came flying through her mind and it took her moment to adjust to the speed and be able to focus of them.

The first memory she's able to see clearly is of him as a child. There's a woman with him, his mother, trying protect from someone him. She makes a valiant attempt, but the sound of repeated gunshots confirm she isn't successful in her effort, and the now sobbing boy is ripped away by people in suits. A logo that reads; "Triad Industries" flashes by next, followed by images of a black pit, a lab and the child strapped down with wires attached to him. This place is his prison.

The experiments. Years and years worth of them. She loses track of just how many times they test him, this boy they call: the child of Malivore. Tortured screams echo in her mind. The loneliness, pain, and the increasing sense of hopelessness is excruciating, suffocating, to the point that Hope has trouble breathing. Just when she thinks she can't handle seeing anymore, she's granted a reprieve.

These new memories are of his past few months here, at the Salvatore School. They feel different than the other memories she's experienced. They feel a thousand times lighter, but each one is tainted with a underlying sense of guilt.

She sees herself now, inside his mindscape. Her and Landon talking out by the lake, her helping him study, them dancing at the twins 16th birthday party. She's caught off guard by his emotions that come from them. Intense. Heartfelt. Love.

But before she's even able to fully process it, the memory of the attempted attack on the school from Triad rushes to the forefront. Desperation. Fear. As Landon confesses to them what he knows in hopes of stopping it. When all is said and done, his frantic attempts at apologies and explanations are cut off by a disappointed headmaster and her own cold, angry words. Like verbal knives, they cut him deeply and the images before her start to swim as the tranq dart hits him, making everything fade to black as Hope's yanked back to the present reality.

Out of breath, she slowly removes her hands from Landon's face and staggers back a bit. This hadn't been what she expected. Hope's now more confused than ever, her head spinning as her contrasting emotions fight one another. Anger vs. Understanding. Revenge vs. Forgiveness.

She stares down at the unconscious young man before her and can't help but see a terrified, helpless little boy.

Her earlier rage begins to falter.

* * *

Hope is still there when he wakes up a little while later. He's a bit groggy as he sits up, but when he finally notices her in the room, a look of surprise shows on his features, and her name slips from his lips on instinct.

She's quiet, looking at him with a expression that he can't quite decipher. But the fact that she isn't glaring daggers at him or trying to kill is him is beyond puzzling to him after what he did.

He wants to say something to her, but struggles to find the words to truly convey the depth of his remorse, other than to apologize for the hundredth time, which he doubts will do any good. He hurt her, and he's not sure he can ever fix that. He still can't even believe she's here right now.

"I thought after what happened, you'd never want to see me again."

"I didn't." Hope replies impassively, causing Landon to shrink back some.

"Right. Yeah I- I deserve that. I don't blame you for hating me."

"I don't... hate you." She admits quietly, catching him completely by surprise. Surely he must be hearing things. He remembered how angry she was at him before he blacked out, the look of utter betrayal on her face. She should hate him, it's what he deserves. He doesn't understand how she couldn't.

"Why not?"

Hope chews at her lip as a nagging feeling of guilt manifests itself in her chest. She did what she did to keep the school safe, she tries to convince herself, but that's only a half truth. The other reason had been selfish impulse, a quest for answers to her own questions. Now, looking him in the eyes, she feels the need to come clean to him on the matter.

"Landon I-, I saw what they did to you, Triad."

His face is a mixture of shock, fear, and confusion as he tries to comprehend what she means by that.

"Wait, what? How did you-?"

Hope momentarily looks away and swallows hard before giving her answer.

"I thought there was more secrets you were keeping from us, so I went inside your memories. And I saw."

Landon wraps his arms around himself, suddenly feeling rather exposed. He silently sits there and takes it all in, a mix of various emotions crossing his face. He stares down at the ground deep in thought, trying to imagine the extent of everything she saw in there. Though part of him feels hurt by her actions, there's also something almost strangely freeing about it. It was as if he'd been holding his breath his entire life, and was finally able to exhale. But at the same time, a bit of guilt comes crawling back, because his painful memories were a burden he hadn't wanted anyone else to have to bear.

Hope stands by, anxiously fiddling with the hem of her skirt as she waits for him to process everything. He doesn't seem too angry about what she did, though she'd understand it if he was. Poking around inside his head, trespassing in a place she didn't belong, she wouldn't blame him. After a few more moments, he eventually nods as if understanding the reasoning behind her actions.

"It still doesn't excuse what I did. I put all of you in danger." He finally says, eyes meeting hers.

Hope stares at him thoughtfully before momentarily closing her eyes and letting out a sympathetic sigh. He wasn't wrong, but at the same time, he was forgetting something else important that happened.

"Let me ask you something, why did you warn us?"

The question catches him off guard, and Landon's head pops up in surprise.

"Because I-"

He stops short and looks at her in a way that suddenly brings back those feeling she felt from his mindscape. That deep, warm affection. It scares her, because maybe some of those feelings are also her own. He doesn't finish what he's started to say, but offers up an additional truthful explanation.

"Because for the first time in my life, I felt like a person. I wasn't an experiment, or a weapon, or a tool. You guys welcomed me in, made me feel like I-, like I belonged here, and gave me the closest thing I've had to a home in a long time. I couldn't let Triad hurt you, any of you."

Hope gently smiles and walks over towards Landon, where she sits down beside him on the bed. He watches her with uncertain eyes, not really sure what to think as she turns to him.

"That's because you _**do**_ belong here. We look out for each other, protect one another. And today, you did that. You risked your own safety going up against your tormentors to keep the school safe. That counts for something."

He appreciates her words, but doesn't feel he deserves them. He lied about so many things, for months. Honestly, a small part of him thinks it might be easier if she just hated him. Landon shakes his head, pulling back away from her, but she clasps his hands between hers to stop him. He briefly glances down at them, before looking up to find Hope staring at him with a determined look in her eyes.

"Listen to me Landon, you are a survivor. Now is not the time to give up on yourself, not after everything you've been through. You really want to try to make thing's right? You still can. Just no more lies, okay?"

He nods.

"No more lies."

She smiles at him.

"Good."

A beat passes, and it takes Hope a moment to realize her hands are still wrapped around his. They briefly share a flustered look before she awkwardly pulls her hands back, placing them on her lap.

"So... What happens now?" He asked hesitantly. His whole future at the school was now in question after what he confessed. He wanted to stay, more then anything. To be here with his friends, be here with Hope. But he feared that wasn't an option.

"I don't know." She admits softly. The others still had to be convinced that Landon deserved a second chance, that he could eventually be trusted again, but that wasn't going to be an easy task. She wasn't sure what Dr. Saltzman or the rest of the honor council was going to decide, though she was certain of one thing as far as she was concerned.

"But there's no way in hell that you're going back there to Triad."

No matter what, she would make certain that those monsters never touched him again.


End file.
